So it's impossible to have a six racial hit die plus one class level and have 5 ECL unless you have a -2 LA. I suppose it's possible to have a race with a negative level adjustment, but I haven't seen one that I recall.

The Harsaaf has a level adjustment of +4. That means your character has an ECL of 11 (4 LA + 1 class level + 6 hit dice). For the purposes of levelling up your character is treated as if he is 11th level.

I already addressed that in part......but also, keep in mind that before 3.5, ECL was the only term for it. Level Adjustment was only introduced in 3.5; before it was simply ECL +X, which meant the same thing. ECL +1 is the same thing as LA +1. The OP probably just left out the "+" sign but meant it to be implied, most likely.

Quick Edit: Err, maybe not, I dunno; I didn't see the middle posts a moment ago. Original Poster: ECL is equal to class level + racial hit dice. Your character's ECL is 7, from 6 racial hit dice + 1 class level. You have a +4 Level Adjustment. Your max rank and such is based on a character level of 7. Your experience points are based on an Effective Character Level of 11.